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Supreme Court of Alabama REL: 05/08/2015 Notice: This opinion is subject to formal revision before publication in the advance sheets of Southern Reporter. Readers are requested to notify the Reporter of Decisions, Alabama Appellate Courts, 300 Dexter Avenue, Montgomery, Alabama 36104-3741 ((334) 229-0649), of any typographical or other errors, in order that corrections may be made before the opinion is printed in Southern Reporter. SUPREME COURT OF ALABAMA OCTOBER TERM, 2014-2015 _________________________ 1120666 _________________________ Kevin Geeslin v. On-Line Information Services, Inc., and Chief Justice Roy S. Moore Appeal from Montgomery Circuit Court (CV-12-901574) MURDOCK, Justice. Kevin Geeslin filed this action challenging a "convenience fee" and "token fee" charged in connection with his on-line electronic filing of a civil action –- fees 1120666 assessed in addition to the statutorily defined filing fee that were mandated by a September 6, 2012, administrative order issued by then Chief Justice Charles Malone. That order purported to make mandatory the on-line, or electronic, filing of all documents filed in civil actions in Alabama circuit courts and district courts by parties represented by an attorney. Alabama's on-line document-filing system, known as "AlaFile," requires credit-card payment of filing fees and charges users a "convenience fee" in addition to the filing fees. Geeslin filed this putative class action in the Montgomery Circuit Court, naming as defendants Chief Justice Malone in his official capacity1 and On-Line Information Services, Inc. ("On-Line"), the company that manages and maintains the electronic-filing system for the Alabama Administrative Office of Courts ("AOC"). Geeslin alleges that Chief Justice Malone's order was unconstitutional and that the fees collected over and above the statutorily defined filing fee amounted to an illegal tax. Geeslin sought a judgment declaring the convenience fee and another "token fee" 1Chief Justice Roy Moore, upon assuming the office of Chief Justice, was automatically substituted for Chief Justice Malone. See Rule 43, Ala. R. App. P. 2 1120666 unconstitutional and a refund of the fees paid by him and the other putative class members. The Chief Justice and On-Line moved to dismiss the complaint. The trial court granted the motion to dismiss, and Geeslin appeals. We affirm in part, reverse in part, and render a judgment for Geeslin on his declaratory-judgment claim. I. Background Before the issuance of Chief Justice Malone's administrative order of September 6, 2012, electronic filing was an optional method of filing in civil cases in Alabama circuit and district courts. Electronic filing in legal actions in Alabama is of relatively recent origin. On July 29, 2005, this Court issued an administrative order authorizing a pilot program for electronic filing for civil matters in certain Alabama counties. The order authorized the Administrative Director of Courts ("the ADC") to promulgate procedural rules for electronic filing and to issue any administrative directives necessary to implement the pilot program. Under the administrative regulations developed by the ADC, attorneys who participated in voluntary electronic filing could do so only by paying court fees associated with 3 1120666 electronically filed documents by credit card, for which they were charged an additional 4% "convenience fee." Because the electronic filing requiring this payment was voluntary, however, so too, in effect, was the convenience fee.2 In connection with this Court's authorization of the pilot program, AOC began working with On-Line, a software- 2Section 41-1-60(a), Ala. Code 1975, provides that "any officer or unit of state government required or authorized to receive or collect any payments [for] state government may accept a credit card payment of the amount that is due." Section 41-1-60 further provides: "(e) An officer or board or other body authorizing acceptance of credit card payments may impose a surcharge or convenience fee upon the person making a payment by credit card to wholly or partially offset, but not to exceed[,] the amount of any discount or administrative fees charged to state government. The surcharge or convenience fee shall be applied only when allowed by the operating rules and regulations of the credit card involved. When a party elects to make a payment to state government by credit card and a surcharge or convenience fee is imposed, the payment of the surcharge or convenience fee shall be deemed voluntary by the party and shall not be refundable." (Emphasis added.) Rule 41(A), Ala. R. Jud. Admin., permits payment of court fees by credit card and provides that "[t]he process for accepting payments by credit card must comply with § 41-1-60." Rule 41(B) provides that "[c]onvenience fees and other administrative fees levied for the privilege of paying assessments, fees, costs, fines, or forfeitures by credit card shall be taxed as costs when costs are taxed by the court." (Emphasis added.) 4 1120666 development company, to develop a system for electronic filing. On-Line and AOC eventually developed what is now known as AlaFile and also developed related document-storage and document-management systems. At all times relevant to this appeal, On-Line has provided software support and management and development services to AOC under the terms of a licensing and services agreement. In the agreement, On-Line is designated as a "limited agent of the AOC" for the purpose of collecting all charges and filing fees paid through use of AlaFile. On-Line collects all statutory filing fees and convenience fees as a limited agent of AOC and remits the statutory filing fees to AOC. The agreement entitles On-Line to retain the convenience fees. The pilot program was successful and eventually was expanded statewide so that all circuit and district courts could participate in electronic filing through AlaFile. Effective October 24, 2008, this Court amended Rule 5 of the Alabama Rules of Civil Procedure to recognize electronic filing as an optional means of filing and service in every county in Alabama. See Rule 5(b) and (e), Ala. R. Civ. P. Indeed, the Committee Comments to Amendments to Rule 5 5 1120666 Effective October 24, 2008, which were also approved by this Court, made clear that electronic filing was an "optional" means of filing and service. ("The additions to Rule 5(b) and Rule 5(e) recognize that electronic filing is now an optional means of filing and service in every county in Alabama." (Emphasis added.)) The administrative regulations concerning electronic filing developed by AOC continued to provide that users were to pay a 4% convenience fee above the filing fees and court costs paid. Furthermore, users of AlaFile can elect to store their payment information for future use. Users who elected to store such information were charged a $0.05 "token fee." This charge, however, is purely voluntary. See note 2, supra, and accompanying text. On September 6, 2012, Chief Justice Malone issued his administrative order purporting to direct that, effective October 1, 2012, all documents filed in civil actions in Alabama circuit courts or district courts by a party represented by an attorney must be filed electronically. The order reads as follows: 6 1120666 "IN THE SUPREME COURT OF ALABAMA "ADMINISTRATIVE ORDER "WHEREAS, pursuant to Article VI, Section 149, of the Constitution of Alabama, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Alabama is the administrative head of the judicial system; and "WHEREAS, Section 12-2-30(b)(7), Code of Alabama 1975, authorizes and empowers the Chief Justice, '[t]o take affirmative and appropriate action to correct or alleviate any condition or situation adversely affecting the administration of justice within the state'; and "WHEREAS, Section 12-2-30(b)(8), Code of Alabama 1975, authorizes and empowers the Chief Justice '[t]o take any such other, further or additional action as may be necessary for the orderly administration of justice within the state, whether or not enumerated [in the law],' "IT IS THEREFORE ORDERED AND DIRECTED that effective October 1, 2012, all documents filed by any party represented by an attorney shall be filed electronically through the AlaFile application in all civil divisions of the circuit and district courts including: Circuit Civil (CV); District Civil (DV); Small Claims (SM); Domestic Relations (DR); and, Child Support (CS). Documents may still be filed in open court at the trial judge's discretion. If documents are filed in open court, the attorney filing the document is responsible for filing the document electronically through AlaFile on the same day. Additional details and instructions may be found in the 'Administrative Policies and Procedures for Electronic Filing in the Civil Divisions of the Alabama Unified Judicial System.' "Most documents that are filed in a case can be filed electronically. Document types that are not 7 1120666 available will be listed on the http://efile.alacourt.gov/ website and should be filed conventionally. As additional document types become available for electronic filing, the Administrative Director of Courts (ADC) may expand the scope of the mandate for electronic filing by directive. "A hardship exception allowing an attorney to file in paper may be obtained for an attorney who cannot file electronically due to exceptional circumstances. Requests for an exception should be submitted to the ADC for consideration and approval or disapproval by the ADC. "Effective October 1, 2012, all orders rendered by the judge assigned to a case in one of the civil divisions including: Circuit Civil (CV); District Civil (DV); Small Claims (SM); Domestic Relations (DR); and Child Support (CS) shall be rendered electronically by the judge through the AlacourtPlus application. "A hardship exception allowing a judge to file an order in paper may be obtained for a judge who cannot file electronically due to exceptional circumstances.
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